Sewage damage to ethnographic material

I was recently contacted by a woman with a conservation problem that
is outside my area of expertise. I thought perhaps someone on the
list might be able to help her.

    Date: 22 Feb 2000
    From: Rose Valdez <rose [at] saintjosephballet__org>
    Subject: Damaged botanicals and wooden African masks

    I take the liberty to contact you directly, as I need the
    guidance of a conservationist in your field of expertise. My
    house was flooded with "raw sewage" water for many hours and
    within that time, several artifacts including old Botanicals and
    wooden African masks were damaged.

    Issue #1  Old Botanicals

        These paintings on paper are around 120 years old and are
        lightly to seriously "stained" with the raw sewage water. I
        need recommendation on the best approach to restore and
        clean them using "over the counter" products if all
        feasible.

    Issue#2  African wood masks

        How can I safely clean these masks in order to avoid germs'
        penetration within the core of the wooden masks?

    Beth Burns
    beth [at] saintjosephballet__org
    Fax: 714-541-2150

Robert Arnold
CEO and Creative Director
DarkHorse2000


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:46
                  Distributed: Tuesday, March 7, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-46-031
                                  ***